Avalon
by FeverToTell
Summary: [WA3] I can't believe it's not JV! The team runs across a girl who might have something to do with the past, their future and maybe...Jet? Oh, the teenaged anger and misunderstanding! New chapters up and running.
1. The Name's Avalon

I own the third game of the Wild Arms series, am looking forward to AlterCode:F, and no way have rights over this or any other game. Anyway...Oh, I totally support G/V's and hate J/V's, but please don't hate or let that affect my reviews. Which reminds me, R&R, please! Now onto the story !

"Ahh! What a beautiful morning!" said a vibrant young teen. She stretched in the sunlight blissfully enjoying life's simple pleasures, until a familiar somewhat cold voice interrupted her happiness, "What, you call this empty world with nothing but sand beautiful? Hmph, you're a true visionary, Virginia."

She turned around, placed her hands on her hips, and gave the boy a mean glare. He was a strange boy. He had white hair and purple eyes, looked to be about 16, and was quite the social outcast. The girl was 18, had quite a loud mouth, was a brunette, and had green eyes. The boy gave her a stoic look, showing no emotion, but was very satisfied in ruining her moment, until another loud mouth had ruined the morning silence, "Geez, Jet. Why do you always gotta ruin our little moments?" asked a tall man of 24, with a white streak running through his long brown hair.

"Yes, Jet," added a man with green hair with glasses aged 30,"You do seem to have a sort of satisfaction putting us down." "That's all you, Virginia and Gallows do, Clive...nag at me," Jet replied, "I've got my opinions too. I just prefer to say 'em when I really feel like it." Virginia shot another glare at him, but shook off her annoyance. After, she announced a secret she had been keeping since yesterday, after the team of drifters had been resting from a previous mission. "Okay everybody! Yesterday at Claiborne, while you were all drinking-" "I was sleeping." interrupted Jet. "And I was stocking up on items." added Clive.

"Yeah, Gallows was the moron who was wasted yesterday." said Jet, and gallows gave him a dirty look.

"Well, in any case," Virginia continued, "whatever you guys were doing, I happened to find us a really good lead on some treasure in some temple called 'Painted Death'!" Jet looked up.

"Well," he said," Details! How much? Where at? Gold, Silver, or regular Gella?"

"As a matter of fact, the temple with the treasure is just Northeast of here! And it's filled with ancient gold!" Virginia mused.

Jet immediately stood up and shouted," Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go! If someone already knows about it, he could've told some other drifters!"

So they headed for the temple.  
It wasn't too long before they found it. Jet looked at the temple with great anticipation. It was kept in great condition, and was covered with elaborate runes. As Jet's excitement took control of him, he smiled, and immediately hid his face in his red and white scarves. Then, with a flabbergasted look upon his face, Clive spoke, "These strange markings and runes are like nothing I've ever seen!"

"Wow. And you've sure seen a lot of old stuff." said Gallows.

"Who cares about all this old crap?" shouted Jet. "Treasure first, old crap later! Now let's go!"

"Hmph. Fine." said Virginia.

Not too far in the temple the drifters had already encountered their first obstacle in obtaining the treasure: a puzzle. A stone stood in the middle of the room, reading, "There's the front…then the back…which way will you move?"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" asked Jet.

"This is strange…" said Clive.

"Front..."said Jet, "But what in front, and what's the back?" As Jet leaned his hand on the stone to think, 4 treasure chests appeared; one in the front, the back, and on both sides of the stone.

"Okay, well open the chest in the front, Jet." Ordered Gallows.

"No way, my luck is the worst out of all of us. You do it Virginia, you've got Robber's Ego equipped." Jet told Virginia.

"Umm, ok..." she answered. She stepped towards the chest and cautiously opened the chest. I t seemed that it wasn't booby trapped, so she reached in and picked up a key.

"Alright! We've got the key, let's go!" she chanted. But on the way to the end of the room, Virginia was met by a huge door, with not one, but two keyholes. "Ah, man. Looks like we need two keys." she sobbed.

"Looks to be that way, but which chest does the other key reside in?" Inquired Clive.

"Ahhhh! Sitting around here is driving me nuts! There's treasure that's probably just waiting on the other side of those doors and we're stuck here because we don't know what chest the stupid key is in! Screw this, I'm gonna open a chest." Yelled Jet.

"Wait," insisted Clive, "It could be trapped!"

"Who cares! I want that treasure!" Jet retorted. As he opened the chest, Virginia and the rest of them gasped in fear, but Jet stood up from the chest unharmed and carrying the other key in his left hand. He scoffed at the rest of them, snatched the other key from Virginia, and shoved both of the keys into their keyholes. The ancient doors opened slowly, revealing a mountain of gold. Jet ran to mountain and held the gold in his hands in awe. Then out of nowhere, a girl with a sword attacked him, screaming, "Get away from there!" Jet dodged her sword and pulled out his ARM, and shot at her, but she blocked every bullet with her sword and said, "Get away from my oro!"

"Who the hell are you, what are you saying, and why are you attacking me?" Jet asked as he studied the girl. She was a brunette, and she looked to be 15. Her hair was messy, and just a couple of inches above the waist line, with crimson red bangs. She had dark brown eyes, holding an angry stare at Jet. She wore a red hoodie with the sleeves torn off, and a white shirt underneath that, with faded ripped jeans and combat boots. The girl shook her head, and then spoke again," This is my treasure. Who are you and who told you about this place?"

Virginia answered, "We're drifters. I heard about this place from a man in Claiborne. I'm sorry for our trespassing. I'm Virginia, this Jet, Clive and Gallows."

"Hmph," the girl answered, "I guess I can forgive you, as long as you don't tell anyone about here."

"You got it!" said Virginia. "By the way, what's your name and what are you doing here?"  
"Well..." she started, "As you probably already know, this is ancient gold. I'm supposed to be here protecting it, since it's from my culture, and there's hardly any of this gold left on Filgaia. But I'm hardly here, since this gold doesn't have the same value as Gella, so I don't worry about people stealing it. Oh, and by the way, the name's Avalon. But you can call me A.V for short. It was nice to meet you I guess, so now I'll be leaving." As she was heading out the door, she was stopped in her tracks by Virginia.

"Wait, don't leave just yet!" she said, "It looks like you travel alone. Would you like to travel along with us?"

"Look," replied Avalon, "We just met. Besides, I like traveling alone. Not only that, but I don't think uhhh...that kid likes me so much."

Jet scoffed. "It's no problem! He's always like that to everyone, besides, we get a lot of missions that pay really well! We have over 500,000 gella right now!" Virginia said as she tried to convince her into traveling with them.

"500,000 gella, ay? Hmmm...if the money's in, I can ignore him and travel with you guys...I'll do it." Avalon answered with a big grin on her face.

"Hurray! Ok. Well right now, we're on our way to Little Rock, So let's go!" Mused Virginia.

"Ummm...hurray...?" said Avalon. Jet scoffed again, knowing bringing her into the group was trouble, and they all continued on to Little Rock.

It's my 1st fic, so tell me what you guys think. I'm open to all criticism, and any suggestions for the next couple of chapters. And there totally will be more chapters, but for a little heads up, there will probably be some G/V later on, and Jet will definitely have some romance, but who knows when, right? ha ha ha ha ha.  
Later everybody, R&R por favor!


	2. I Still Don't Know

Okay, peoples! Here's my second fic the sequel to my last one with Avalon. I promise you there will be romance, but not in this one...but this one starts off the romance! Hope you like it! You know the usual, R&R please, and enjoy! : 9 And thanks to Hana no Kaze for the great review, this one's dedicated to you! :D  
  
So we left off at Little Rock last time, right? Right! OK! It was a new morning, and Avalon's first day actually traveling with Virginia and her group. So far, she had gotten along with everyone, except for Jet. As they all awoke from sleeping, Virginia gleefully said,"It's so great to sleep in a real bed again! Thank goodness this inn was vacant last night, or we would've had to sleep on the dirt like everyday." "Uh, before I started hangin' around you guys, what were doing orginally?" Avalon asked Virginia. "Well, we were looking for some leads to advance on in finding the cause behind our decaying Filgaia." "Oh, so you guys are those type of drifters..." she responded. Avalon hung her head deep in thought. Well, a lot of drifters try to uncover the mystery of Filgaia...none of them have ever made it, so I don't think I'll get caught in anything serious, she thought to herself.  
  
"Well, I'm going to go look for some leads!" Announced Virginia. "Ok. I'll get something to eat." said A.V. "Aw, sweet! Me too!" yelled Gallows. "I'll go too to make sure you don't spend our money getting wasted like last time." said Jet, and they all went downstairs into the inn's restaurant, except for Virginia and Clive who went to look for some leads.  
  
In the restaurant, as Avalon, Jet, and Gallows were eating, Gallows ate his plate as quickly as he could and left, laughing at Jet. Avalon didn't know, but last person eating had to pay the bill. Jet tried to eat faster as well, not only to leave the bill to Avalon, but also he felt awkward eating alone with her, not to mention, she was Avalon. "What's up with you?" she asked Jet, who had a mouth full of pancakes. He swallowed the pancakes, and continued to eat silently but quickly. "Tch. Fine. But bill's on you." she said as she stood up. Jet lookd up at her, baffled, then at her empty plate. It had been full a couple of minutes ago, but she knew what Gallows was insinuating when he left laughing, and she was satisfied in beating Jet to leaving. "See ya punk." She said as she departed outside. Jet looked at her as she left, feeling like an idiot that he had been outsmarted by her. He finished his food, left the money on the table, and left outside.  
  
Outside, Virginia was jumping around laughing. Oh great, Jet thought. "Hey Jet," Virginia chanted,"Guess what! Guess, guess, guess!" "Ugh" he moaned, and Avalon answered for him,"You found a lead!" "Correct!" shouted Virginia,"There's a Leyline Observatory not to far North from here! We could learn something a little extra behind Filgaia! So let's go!"

_Hmmm...maybe they're a little better than I thought, but still, this really isn't anything serious,_ thought Avalon.

They arrived at the Leyline Observatory, and as they entered, they studied it silently, until Jet broke the silence. "Ahhh!" he shouted as he held his head in pain.

_I know this place, but how? I don't have any memories_, he thought.

"Are you all right?" Virgina asked him. "I'm...fine." he answered."Let's just get in and out of this place." he said. Everyone continued on before him, and before he continued, someone tapped him on his shoulder. He turned to see who it was, and it was Avalon. She asked him,"Hey, are you sure you're okay? You looked like you were in a lot of pain." He looked at her, somewhat confused that she actually cared since they were usually bickering with one another. "I told everyone that I was fine. I'm not some little kid!" he snapped. "Heh, if you say so." she responded. Then she continued on in front of him. He scoffed at her as she walked in front of him, and she stuck her tongue out at him.  
  
They had already fought a lot of monsters and they were all sick if it. They came to what looked like the final room of the observatory. It didn't look like much. It was just full of old data. The others went to look at all of the data, but Jet stayed in a corner. Avalon walked up to him and talked to him. "Good thing this is the last room, you don't look so great. Are you sick or something?" "For the last time, I'm fine!"he snapped at her,"I don't need anyone to take care of me. I've made it through my entire life by myself without anyone helping me. I don't need some stupid girl who doesn't know anything about me hanging around worrying about me!" Although she was hurt, Avalon didn't look it. She left angrily and joined the others. Jet was left to himself and actually did kind of feel bad for making her leave.

_I suppose she was the only one who didn't bitch about what I did all the time...wait, _he thought_, ah, she's just some dumb girl. I meant what I said. I don't need anyone, and I definetely don't need her. _

So he stayed deep in thought watching the rest of them read the data. Then he had another flashback. He walked to a wall on the west side of the room, and began feeling around for something. Everyone watched him. "It's not like I know this, but..." he stopped speaking and a door appeared. They walked through the door into a room full of huge tubes. Jet looked at the tubes. _Let's get out of here, my neck's stiff, and my stomach's gonna fall out_, he thought to himself. Avalon wanted to talk to him, but she remembered what he said and decided it was better to leave him alone. They continued on but had to stop. The next room's exit was blocked by what looked like some kind of lasers. Clive looked at a machine next to them. "It seems we must provide a password in order to advance." he told them. "Try...Guiding Word." Jet told Clive. He did as he said, and the lasers turned off.  
  
They stepped into the next room, and on a table in the back, there was half of a ripped picture. It showed what looked like 4 scientists. 3 men and one woman. "Hey..."Virginia said,"this is the other half of my picture!" She took out a worn photo pieced it together. "It's a picture of my dad and his fellow scientists." "...Can I have a look at that?" Jet asked. He pointed to a man and asked Virginia,"This man here...Is he your father?" She answered, "Yes. Have I told you about him?" "No, see..." he paused,"He's kind of my old man too." "WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTT?" shouted Virginia, then she started spazzin out saying who knows what while Jet just stood silently watching her until she calmed down. "I'm sorry," she apologized," I know my father would never leave us for someone else, It's just-" Virginia was interrupted by an explosion from the side of them, as a robed woman appeared with a giant at her side. "Hello again." she said. "Melody!" Clive shouted,"What are you doing?" then she spoke, "I came on orders, but for some personal reasons as well. This is payback for humiliating me! Go Asgard!" The giant stepped forward. She spoke again,"This is Asgard. Our newest weapon and our defense. Would you like to see his barrier knuckle? Hmmmm...who to do it on though?" Melody looked at the 5 drifters and came across Avalon. "Oh? Another one? Asgard!" She pointed towards Avalon. As Avalon tried to move, she froze. She was stuck. "Avalon, get out of the way!" Shouted Gallows. "I-I can't move!" She started to panic. She looked at the Golem, and as he struck the ground with his fist, the floor began to split under all his power and energy, and headed towards Avalon. Then, the energy had traveled right in front of her, then suddenly she was swept to the side. The attack had missed her completely, and whoever had saved her was laying beside her with an arm around her waist, and had also apparently dodged the attack. She looked to her left, and saw Jet, lying there, out of breath, and he looked back at her, leaving his arm unnoticed for a while, until he had realized it was still around her, and got up hastily. "Ugh! Stupid boy!" Melody shouted,"Now you shall all feel the power of Asgard!"  
  
Well, there it is! Whaddya think people? Like the last one, R&R please! And I know that there wasn't any romance really, but this is the beginning to the romance! You watch! Still open for Suggestions! See ya!


	3. Indecisive

OK! My third fanfic...first 2 going ok...i think... oh oh oh! THIS one will definetely have some romance! Let's see...well...that's sort of your update...don't wanna spoil anything, so just read on and you'll know what happens! OK, we left our heroes at the leyline observatory, where they had run into Melody and Asgard, and Jet saved Avalon from his Barrier Flood, and....AH HA! OK, here we go!  
  
Avalon looked at Jet, who was lying on the floor, gasping for breath. She felt like some stupid damsel in distress. She got up and helped Jet, still barely left with breath from nearly missing Asgard's attack.  
  
"Hmph," started Melody," what a fool." Avalon gave her a disgusted look as she held on to Jet to keep him up. "Well, since that didn't go well on one of you, let's try it on all of you! Asgard!" called Melody. Asgard went into position for the Barrier Flood, and raised his enormous arm. He clenched his massive hand, the gem embedded on it holding a malevolent sparkle. He threw his hand at the floor, but the very instant before he struck the ground, a white fog began to enshroud Melody and himself.  
  
"What is this? What's happening?" panicked Melody. Asgard refrained from his position, trying to relocate his targets. "Hmph," spoke a blond wearing an orange dress carrying an ARM,"I don't like seeing a familiar face being bullied by a new face in town!" "Why you! You're as sly as a fox!" shouted Melody, trying not to suffocate from the smoke. Then the blonde and three others whisked Virginia and her team away from harm.  
  
The team ended up outside with the blond and her three friends. One was a man in an afro, another a blond boy with a panda back pack and explosives, and the third was what seemed like an orange stuffed cat with wings.  
  
Virgina exclaimed,"Oh, Maya! thank you SOOOO much!" She rolled her eyes, and replied,"Whatever..." The boy with the back pack was tending to Jet and Avalon, who had kind of fainted from the smoke. Avalon quickly came to, and looked at Jet, relieved that he was OK, then at the boy. The boy looked back at her, and said,"Oh, you came around fast. Umm...we rescued you guys from the robed woman and her robot. My name's Alfred." he looked down and blushed. "Oh. Thanks Alfred," said Avalon with a smile,"He's going to be OK, right?" She jerked her head to wards Jet. "Oh yeah. It was just a bit of smoke. So what's your name? I've never seen you with them before." he asked, still somewhat red. "I'm Avalon." she answered. "Ummm...that's a really nice name." he said. He lowered his head, embarrassed. But Avalon was leaning over Jet. She was worried for him, how could she not be? Jet began to slightly twitch and grumble. He squinted his eyes, and then opened them. He looked at Avalon, still leaning over him. He was actually embarrassed that she was pretty close to him. Then he shook his head and exclaimed," Geez! Gimme some air, will ya? I practically risk my life saving you, the least you can do is let me breath!" Avalon scoffed at him, and stepped away from him. She walked past Alfred, and checked to see if Gallows, Virginia, and Clive were OK. Alfred looked at her as she walked by. "She's really pretty." he accidentally said. He quickly looked at Jet, hoping he didn't hear him. "HAH! Please. You may think she looks good, but that girl is a pain in the ass." said Jet, turning his head to the side. "She seems really nice though." replied Alfred. "Hmph. Think what you want! She's a pain in the ass, I tell you! So don't get any ideas, you hear?" Jet said, looking quite flustered. He got up, and was really surprised at himself.  
  
_What the hell was I doin' back there? Was I...was I getting offensive over that stupid girl Avalon? HAH! Yeah right! I was just raining on that kid's parade because he was being stupid. Yeah. Tch, like I would get mad over Avalon...  
_  
"Well thanks for everything Maya. See ya later!" Virginia said happily. Maya winked at them, and Alfred waved to Avalon. She simply smiled back. Jet scoffed at them. After saying their good-byes, both of the groups departed from that area. Maya's group headed to steal more treasure, and Virginia's headed back to Little Rock to rest; the sky had begun to turn a shade of mauve.  
  
At the Inn, Virginia and Clive had decided to go to sleep. Jet stayed up, as well as Avalon, and Gallows had planned to drink. Jet walked up to the top of the Inn, just sitting there lookin at the sky. He could already hear a wasted Gallows boasting on how he had a million girls after him, and asked a woman named Heather if she wanted to be his girlfriend. Jet sighed and shook his head. Then he heard footsteps behind him. He quickly turned around, and said," Oh. It's just you." The person behind him said," What, were you expecting Virginia or something? Hahahaha...." "Tch! Yeah Right! What do you want, Avalon?" he said. "Nothing," she replied," I just wanted to see where you were..." She took a seat next to Jet. "Why? What do you need?" he said somewhat angrily. "Uh, I just wanted to thank you for saving me today. I didn't think you would after what you told me." She looked down, her face hidden from the moonlight. "Whatever..." Jet replied,"I figured if I saved you, you would give some kind of reward...but you can see how that turned out. I'm empty handed, and you're still here." "Avalon spoke again with a hurt voice,"Do you seriously dislike me that much, Jet? If you really want me to leave, I will..." Jet looked at her. Her face was still hidden from where he was, but he felt the emotion emanating from her. Then he lowered his head, deep in thought. Avalon looked worried.  
  
_Maybe she should leave, but why I am I having doubts about this? I mean, please...she's just another dumb girl, but why do I feel like this? My palms are all sweaty and I have this wierd warm feeling in the pit of my stomach. Is it because of Avalon...? Ahhhhhh! This is driving me nuts! But if I do let her stay, maybe I can still get some of her gold...  
_  
"Whatever,"he started, "You can stay." She looked up, her face finally visible to Jet, smiling in relief. Jet looked at her smile, and actually began to smile himself, but he quickly hid it in his scarves. "What's the matter? Are you all right?" she asked. "I"m fine." he said. "You know," Avalon told Jet as she moved closer to him," I was really worried about you after you saved me. You were lying on the floor all out of breath, then you passed out when Maya and Alfred rescued us. I was really glad when you woke up." Jet looked at ther and said,"What's up with you? You're being really...like a girl. You're usually loud and annoying." "So you'd rather me be annoying right now?" she asked him. "No...you're actually kind of nice...right now..." he began to stutter;Avalon was coming closer to him. He slowly began to lean in as well. He watched Avalon as they almost came face to face, she closed her eyes. Jet could feel the warmth from Avalon, she looked so.  
Jet felt her lips, then backed away. He shook his head, and Avalon stood up, her face was vermilion red. Her eyes darted from side to side, and she left the top of Inn, practically falling. Jet stayed on the top of the end, with a heavy feeling in his gut. He didn't know what to feel. As he was lost in thought, he heard Gallows shouting,"Whoa! Hey Avalon! What happened to you? Heh, Your face is beat red!" Jet sighed again, his palms sweaty, and his stomach heavy with guilt.  
  
So whaddya think peoples! Told ya there would be romance! It COULD HAVE gone further, but a moron named Jet totally killed that and the moment! Jet: Hmph...Shut up! It's not my-  
Me: shut up, don't care.  
Gallows:still drunk so Heather! You doin anything tomorweirdrow?  
Ummm...Gallows... there's no one there...  
  
Well, anywayz, tell me watcha think. Still open for suggestions and such. Latz! Hope you liked it Hana no Kaze! XD 


	4. Too Much Something For Nothing

The almighty fourth fan fic! XD About time, too...I'm sorry to everyone who was waiting for this (especially you Hana-), but high school doesn't give you any time off! But enough of my talking, let's continue on my fanfic! BTW, this is the one after Jet and Avalon kissed.

Morning at the Rolling Stone Inn at Little Rock...The five drifters are all fast asleep in their rooms as the day begins. Avalon and Virginia in one, and the men in another. No one was glad for this new day; it brought nothing but more work to all of them. As the sun quietly looked through the window, Jet awoke. He quietly got ready, and began the day before anyone else. He looked at the two remaining drifters to make sure know one else was awake. He quietly snuck out of the room, descended the stairs and entered the inn's restaurant.

He walked towards a table and sat down. He sighed heavily thinking of what happened between Avalon and him last night. He rested his head on his hand and began to play with the fork on the table. As he was in the middle of contemplation, someone had joined him at his table. He looked up and saw Avalon. She gave a small smile and said, "Mind if I join you?" He looked at the floor blushing and quietly said, "Sure, whatever." For what seemed like five hours that was actually five minutes, Jet and Avalon avoided eye contact. Fortunately and unfortunately for them, Gallows had entered the restaurant and broke the silence. Gallows threw his arms around Jet and Avalon, bringing their faces close together, causing them both to blush. "Hey there, kiddos!" chanted Gallows. "Guess what we're doing today!" Jet and Avalon remained silent as they released themselves from Gallows' grip. "We're heading to Baskar Colony! I gotta see Shane for any changes in his dream sights and to fill him in on what we've been doin. I'd bet he'd love to meet you Avalon!" Avalon just gave a small smile. Jet, hating to admit it, was actually somewhat jealous. He scoffed at Gallows and turned his head to the side. Avalon looked at the both of them and said, "I'm sorry, I need to run an errand in town. See ya." Jet and Gallows watched her as she left the Inn. Gallows looked down at him. He noticed that he was still looking in Avalon's direction. Gallows gave a big smirk and said, "Heh, even though she's only fourteen, she has a nice butt, huh Jet?" Jet looked at Gallows angrily and said, "Hmph whatever." Gallows put on a confused look and said, "What? You like her don't you? And it's easy for you to get a piece of that, you saved her life!" "That doesn't mean anything." Jet retorted. Gallows departed and said, "Fine, fine...." Jet scoffed as Gallows left and thought to himself, _He's stupid. Tch, I don't like Avalon..._

Jet walked outside to see Clive, Virginia, Avalon, and Gallows grouped together near the entrance ready to leave. Virginia looked at Jet and said happily, "C'mon Jet! We gotta go to Baskar Colony!" HE slowly walked over to them. Virginia crossed her arms and thought to herself for a while. "Ok," she said, "now how do we get there faster than sand craft or horse?" she smiled while the rest of the drifters hung their heads. "We only have access to a sand craft right now, nothing else." stated Clive. "Actually," Avalon interrupted, "I've got a couple of Warp Stars." "Hurray," Virginia shouted, "See? Wasn't it a good idea to invite Avalon along?"

The drifters teleported to the train station near Baskar (hey, I forgot what it was called! ;;) and continued on to Gallows' hometown. On the way, Virginia was babbling on about revisiting Gallows' hometown. "Won't it be great to see them all again? Shane and Halle will be so happy to see us again! We haven't seen them in such a long time!" Jet rolled his eyes and responded, "It's only been two weeks." "See what I mean?" she said.

They had arrived at the Colony, and Avalon looked around showing great interest. In the middle of her studying, a boy came running to them, and exclaimed, "Brother!" She watched Gallows and his brother enjoy an anticipated hug. Gallows said, "Hey Shane. Nice to see ya! Boy do I have a lot to tell you! Oh, and this here is a drifter girl we found who speaks some crazy language. Her name's Avalon!" Avalon and Shane briefly shook hands. Shane hastily looked back at Gallows and said, "Oh, Grandmother would like to speak with you about something, brother. She's in the house." "Aww, man! Shane, can't I do this later?" Gallows begged. "I'm sorry brother; Grandmother said it was very urgent. Please go to her." Shane replied. Gallows sighed heavily and rolled his eyes as he walked towards his previous home. Shane looked back at them all and said, "Since my brother has gone off to speak with my grandmother, you are all welcome to do as you please around the village." He looked at Avalon as she looked around the village and asked, "I know you are new to our village. Would you like me to show you around?" She responded, "Thanks, but if it's ok with you, I'd rather look around myself." He smiled and said, "Ok then. But if you need anything, I am willing to do the best I can to help you." She smiled back and answered, "Ok. Thanks." Shane walked away, and Avalon looked around the small village.

She saw Jet sitting alone on a boulder and sat down next to him. "Hey." she said. He looked back at her and didn't answer. "You all right?" she asked. "I'm fine." He responded. They stayed quiet for a while avoiding eye contact with each other. The silence was driving them both nuts, well it was killing Avalon anyway, so she interrupted it, "Um, Jet?" she started. He looked back at her bearing a face of slight annoyance, his answer same as the first question she asked him. She looked down at her feet, worried. She looked back up at him with a straight face that was obviously forced, and asked another question. "About last night…" she paused, and Jet had buried his mouth and nose into his scarves, "I know we're both pretty freaked out about it, so let's forget about it, ok?" She smiled at him, and as relieved he was, Jet only answered, "Sure, whatever." Avalon's worried face also turned into relief and happiness. She jumped off the rock, looked back at Jet, and left to go chat with Virginia. Jet continued contemplating to himself in his spot.

_I don't get it. I don't think anyone could just forget like that, but I guess she was probably more regretful than I was. Heh, at least I'll be able to forget about that now and go back to being my old self without any worries._

He figured he had nothing better to do, so he stayed at his rock, looking at all the village folk. It was a quaint, quiet village with nice people, and Jet wondered if he had ever lived in a place like this, or if he did what it would be like. He continued looking around at the small colony, and stopped upon some chickens, when he heard Gallows call them all into Halle's house. He gave a great sigh, and proceeded towards the house like the others.

They all entered and placed themselves around the fire like all the other times they visited, and Jet secluded himself from them and stood against the wall behind him and crossed his arms. He made himself comfortable and noticed Avalon was also away from them sitting on the stairs. His attention was drawn back to Halle as she cleared her throat and began to dictate her need for their presence. "I have asked you to be here for a very important reason. Lately, Shane and I have been getting a powerful aura coming from the east. I don't know why we've been feeling it right now; it feels like it's been there forever. I suggest you go and find out what it is. If it's anything powerful, I know the prophets will be after it. I also suggest you take Shane with you. Since he can feel the aura, he'll lead you to it." Avalon looked at the floor and whispered, "Prophets…?" Shane looked up at her with surprise and said, "I get to go with Gallows and his friends, grandmother?" "Of course Shane," she explained, "Your big buffoon of a brother obviously can't feel where the aura's coming from, you can lead the way to whatever it is." Gallows gave her an angry look and placed his hands on his hips. Halle looked around the room and spoke once more, "Please take this up. I know you are all still drifters, so I'll offer an award. If you find it, you are allowed to keep it." Jet thought to himself, _something that powerful has got to be worth a lot of Gella, we have to go after it. _Virginia had been thinking to herself while staring at the fire in the middle of the room. She looked up at Halle, and announced, "You're right. If it is really that powerful, the Prophets are bound to come a knockin'. We'll take this mission and your offer for the reward." Halle gave a sigh of relief, and thanked Virginia. "So it's settled then. Please prepare yourself here, and Shane will be waiting for you by the entrance."

They all began to grab all the supplies they needed, and headed towards the entrance. He met them half way and said happily, "I'm really excited that I get to go with you and your friends, brother! I've dreamed to get the chance to come along on a mission with you like this!" Avalon leaned to her right and whispered in Virginia's ear, "This kid doesn't get out much, huh?" Virginia gave a soft smile and shook her head.

They all ran to the sand craft and mounted their positions: Virginia the helmsman, Clive the shooter, Gallows the deckhand, Jet the harpooner, and Shane sat behind Virginia accompanied by Avalon. He looked around the sand craft excitedly. "Wow, this is such amazing technology!" Avalon looked to her right and said, "It's okay…" He had finished his studying of the sand craft and remembered Avalon was the newest addition to their team. He asked her, "So you are new?" Avalon remained at her position and said, "Yeah." "So do you fight well?" Shane asked. Avalon looked back at him sheepishly and replied, "I have to or I could never survive in the wasteland." She began to get slightly annoyed at Shane, and he asked her another question, "Do you use an ARM?" "No. I prefer to fight somewhat hand to hand combat, so I use a sword. It takes much more strength to utilize this weapon than it does to pull a trigger." "I see." Shane responded. He hadn't noticed that Avalon was tired of his questions, and asked one more that had triggered her anger, "So what does your family think about you being a drifter?" Avalon grinded her teeth and forced a response, "I have no family." "Sorry." Shane apologized. Avalon gave a slight mumble, and closed her eyes as she sank into her chair.

They must have been heading east for at least an hour until Shane had gotten up and shouted, "There it is!" He pointed to a small isle in front of them and they slowly reached shore from the ocean of sand. They all got off from the sand craft and waited around. Gallows helped Shane off. He studied his surroundings and continued pointing in front of them and said, "It's not far. I doubt it's a mile away. If we keep walking this way in a straight line, we won't miss it." Virginia faced her comrades and said, "Let's get going!"

They had been heading the same way for less than five minutes, and they had already found a temple. Shane looked at the temple and said, "It's in there all right." Before entering the temple, they all studied it. It wasn't as glamorous as Avalon's temple had been, it actually looked like it had been there for centuries, and whoever built it didn't put much thought into it. They threw their opinion aside and headed inside. They entered the temple, and upon entering, Virginia gave a huge gasp. "There's nothing in here! How could this be? Maybe someone got to it before us!" Avalon stepped forward and gave her theory, "I don't think so. If it's valuable, why would you make it so easy and just throw it in the middle of a temple without traps? It's in here all right, but we gotta find it. Besides, if it's not here, how did Shane lead us here in the first place?" Virginia sighed then clasped her hands together. "You're right! Now let's go find it!"

They all spread out in the one room and searched for anything that looked like it could lead them to the power source, but to no avail. Jet went to a far corner of the room and dusted the floor with his hand to see if there was any chance of anything being there. He heard something like faint mumbling to his left, and when he looked in that direction, he saw Avalon running her hand against the wall singing softly, "Bandages on my legs and my arms from you, bandages, bandages, bandages…" He returned to his corner and continued dusting the floor for the hell of it until he knew there was nothing there. He slapped the floor, got up, and ran into Avalon. "Don't worry now, don't worry now, don't worry 'cause it will all turn around…oops, sorry." She rubbed the back of her neck and walked past him. He wheeled around and asked her, "Did you find anything?" She turned around to answer his question with an irritated face and said, "Does it look or sound like I got anything? If I had something I would've screamed it out by now!" He shot back at her, "Hey! Don't bite my head off, I was just asking!" "Well thanks for asking something you didn't need to!" "I can ask whatever I want, I don't need you telling me what not to do!" "Shut up! You have such a big head, no one can tell you anything!" Avalon and Jet's bickering was so loud that everyone else had stopped searching and started staring at the both of them. "No one is supposed to tell me anything! I have my own life, and I can do whatever the hell I want!" "Fine, then I have my own life too, and I'm telling you to SHUT UP!!!" "Rrrgh, all you do is bitch at me, and ever since I met you my life has been nothing but hell!!!" As Avalon opened her mouth to verbally attack him again, she stopped and looked at the floor. Everyone else had joined her. The floor began to shake and open through the middle, and it collapsed as if it was struck by an earthquake. All six of them shouted as they fell into what they were sure was their death. The fall seemed almost endless, until their screaming was flatly interrupted by a hard surface in the dark. "What the…?" said Gallows. He fumbled around in the dark for anything hopefully flammable, and came across what felt like a long piece of wood. He shouted in the darkness, "Cremate!" The lone stick of wood was set ablaze by a crimson fire that lit their surroundings. Jet rubbed his head and felt a firm grip on his arm. He slowly turned and found Avalon, her head looking at the floor, grabbing Jet's arm. He raised his eyebrow at her, and as she looked up she let go. "I don't like the dark, and I tried to find the nearest person so I wouldn't be alone…sorry." He scoffed at her and replied, "Heh. First you scream at me and now you're looking towards me for comfort. Some drifter you are." She frowned at him and said, "Shut up. I told you, I was trying to find anyone in the dark! You were the closest! Besides I didn't know who the hell it was as long as knew it was SOMEONE and that I wasn't alone…" "Whatever, say what you want." He got up and left to join the rest of the drifters as they gathered near Gallows and the light. Avalon sighed and thought to herself, _alone and in the dark again…_

She quickly got up and ran to Gallows as well. Gallows looked around and said, "Where the hell are we?" Clive observed what they had landed into as well and said, "It seems that Avalon and Jet's loud quarreling caused the weak foundation of the top floor to give in. I think we are one step closer to finding our prize." Virginia faced the both of them with a grin and said, "Good job bitching at each other guys! Now we can find whatever that powerful is aura is coming from!" Jet and Avalon looked at each other, scoffed, turn opposite directions from each other, and crossed their arms. Gallows was looking around the room and found a small passage way in front of them. "Hey, there's a way for us to go over there!" "Perhaps it's the way to our power source, let us proceed." stated Clive. "Alright, let's go!" chanted Virginia.

They had entered what turned out to be like a long hall, and had been walking forever until they had found their next obstacle: multiple passageways. "Aw crap, how're we gonna get through this one? There are way too many for us to split up!" "Easy," interrupted Avalon, "Shane, which way is the aura coming from?" Shane looked at her, and then walked to each of the doorways until he came upon one third to the right and said, "This way!" He began running without them into the dark abyss. Avalon wondered how he wasn't afraid of just running into the unknown like that, and she noticed everyone else had ran into there as well. She shouted, "Hey, wait for me!" She cautiously but quickly walked towards the door, until she was shocked to see a dark figure about her size emerge from the door way. It walked until it was practically face to face with her, and said, "Hurry up, will ya?" Avalon smiled, glad to see Jet had waited for her. "Thanks for waiting." "Shut up and let's go already…" they walked together into the darkness, and Jet had barely noticed that his face was hot.

They walked until they caught up with the rest of them and Shane, who was tired already and had decided to slow his pace. As they advanced, it began to feel rather humid. "Geez, why is it so hot in here?" asked Gallows. Clive put his hand to his chin and said, "It could be a result of the powerful aura. I think we are closer than we thought." Avalon watched with horror written all over her face as the make-shift torch slowly went out. Virginia told Gallows to light the torch again. He answered, "I can't. It's so humid in this place that the torch is damp and won't light anymore. Ah, but its fine, we'll just keep going. If there was anything in here we would've come across it by now. No worries!" Avalon made a noise like a small whimper and grabbed Jet's arm again. He whispered to her, "Look, this time I won't say anything, but please promise to not squeeze so tight, it gets annoying." She whispered back, "No problem. And by the way, thanks a lot Jet, I really appreciate it. You're really nice when you want to be." He scoffed and told her, "I'm not nice…I'm expecting pay back for this." She rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at him, oblivious to the fact that they were enclosed by darkness as black as the midnight sky.

They continued walking around in the darkness for what seemed like forever, until finally they found a dim light at the end of their tunnel. "Finally, now let's go check to see if that's the power source!" said Virginia. They began to slowly advance in case of any kind of danger, and in no less than thirty seconds the light grew brighter until they had entered another room. They all looked around the room in great awe, as the outside of the treasure's stronghold seemed to have deceived them. This room was much more beautiful than the temple. Velvet red drapes lined the walls, and in the center of the room, a raised altar stood, made of exquisite obsidian. Placed neatly on the altar was a crimson diamond in the likeness of a star. Avalon's eyes widened. "Wow! It's so pretty!" said Virginia, also eyeing the star. "That's the power source?" questioned Gallows. "Yes." Answered Shane, "I can feel it much stronger here than anywhere. Let us retrieve it and show it to Grandmother." "Let's." said Virginia. She stepped up to the altar and slowly reached for the star. As she raised her hand to reach for it, an invisible force hit her, and thrust her back against a wall. Clive rushed to her aid, and helped her up. Avalon looked back at the altar and said, "What the hell was that?" An audacious laugh echoed through the room, and a familiar female stood near the star accompanied by a young man with blue hair wielding a bayonet. Avalon recognized the weapon the man bore as one of the hardest weapons to utilize, and wondered who he was. The familiar woman known as Melody raised her arm to conceal her lips and said, "Hmph. Didn't think we'd find out about this, now did we?" Avalon thought aloud, "Oh great, not this bitch again…" Melody brought her arm down in a storm of fury and bellowed, "You little wench! I'll kill you! Janus!" The man stood tall and walked towards the team of drifters and Shane. Gallows put his arm back to protect Shane, clenching his teeth, and Avalon shouted, "Whoa, that's Janus Cascade?" Jet gave her a peevish look and yelled, "Look, now's not the time! He's fighting for them, and he's our enemy. Now shut up and get ready to fight." Avalon rolled her eyes and withdrew her sword, a sword whose blade was fashioned in the shape of flames, and was ebony black. Janus looked at her sword with a raised eyebrow and said, "Guess I'm not the only one here with an unorthodox weapon huh?" Avalon gave a stern determined look, ready to fight. Removed from the line of fire, Melody tried to remove the diamond from the altar, and activated a kind of defense system built in the room. The altar caught on fire, and the beautiful drapes had also caught on fire. The altar descended into the floor, and the entire room began to shake like the first floor. "What's happening brother?" Shane asked as he frantically looked around the room, trembling in fear. "I don't know…" Gallows answered. Virginia screamed as debris began to collapse from the ceiling. Avalon heard a loud crack, and looked above her with wide eyes as she stood there numb with shock. Jet thought to himself, _how many times is this gonna happen?_ He ran to Avalon to try and save her, but a flash of red passed by and Avalon was taken away in Janus' arms. Janus left back to Melody's side, and said with Avalon still in his arms, "See ya kiddos." Jet and Avalon had their last look at each other, then Melody, Janus, and Avalon left in a cloud of smoke. "Avalon!!!" Jet shouted. "How are we going to get out of here?" said Virginia, frantically looking around the once beautiful room, enveloped in flames, collapsing bit by bit, planning to take them with it. Shane searched feverishly in a pouch of his for an unknown item. He pulled out what seemed to be a purple orb, and in a flash, they were all back at the entrance of the temple, watching it fall back into the sand, seeming to be forever lost. "We lost it….now we'll never know what that was." sobbed Virginia. Jet looked at her with an angry face and yelled, "Who gives a shit about that frickin' star! What the hell's the matter with you? Don't you think there's something missing here? WE LOST AVALON! The prophets didn't get the star, so they took her! I can't believe you're more upset about that piece of crap…." Virginia looked at the floor sad. Clive tried to break the conflict by saying, "Let us head back to Baskar to try and find a way to save Avalon." Jet replied by scoffing, and they headed back home via sand craft.

There! I have finished! Please rate and review, and for a heads up, chapter five is already in progress folks!!! This one'll be on way faster than number 4!


	5. Am I Talking To Myself?

Ok, here's the fifth one. I hope you all like it, 'cause I decided to do it a little differently. This one is going to be told from Avalon's point of view. It's just so you can know how she thinks, not to mention it's a hell of a lot more easier for me….ok, so far, she's been kidnapped by Janus and Melody, and she's in a room with her hands tied behind her back, and her feet tied together.

At the time, I was so afraid. I was kidnapped by two morons I had never seen, and I had no hope of getting out; I was confiscated of everything I had possessed. I was disgusted and disappointed in myself. How could I have just stood there waiting for that rock to fall, and why didn't I do anything when Janus had grabbed me? Was I scared? Rrrrrrrrgh, I was so pissed. As I contemplated in my small prison, being restricted of any movement, that woman named Melody came in. She arrogantly stood in the doorway holding an audacious smile. She was really pretty, but knowing how she was actually made her really ugly to me. I cursed at her in my head, then she interrupted my thoughts and said, "Even with another drifter, you are all still pathetic. Who knew capturing you would be so easy? I actually wanted your little boyfriend, but you will do just fine." I grinded my teeth and yelled at her, "You stupid bitch! I swear when I get out of this I'm going to kill you!" She raised her arm to cover her mouth and laughed. I tried keeping myself sane by thinking happy thoughts, like one day cutting her throat, but I guess that wasn't enough. "Foolish girl. How do hope to get out of that? You cannot move at all!" How did I hope to get out of this mess? Who knows if Virginia and the rest were going to save me, but my pride and dignity as a drifter would hold me out. She lowered her arm and placed it on her hip. "You know, you are quite beautiful. You can gain a lot of power if you knew how to wield it correctly." The only thing I thought at the time was, God, I hate her…Ever since I was a kid, people told me, you're so pretty, you'll be able to do a lot in life! Your beauty will lead you to success! Everyone thought my looks would get me anywhere in life, and that I would be able to have any husband I wanted. No one would praise me for anything else, and I knew then that I didn't want that life. I had left everyone there on my eleventh birthday, and traversed the land as a drifter. The only thing this stupid broad was doing was bringing back those hated memories. "I don't need beauty. All I need is my strength and my sword, and I can get anything I want." She answered me back, "You think what you want. Enjoy yourself in the dark!" I will hurt her somehow, maybe not right now, but I will.

I had dozed off, and then I was visited by someone else. I had little light, but I could make out what he looked like. The first thing that came to my head looking at this guy was, he is totally gay. He had blonde hair, somewhat kept from his face by a green cloth that was wrapped around his head. He wore almost the same type of white robes Melody wore, except looser fitting. "Who are you?" he asked. "I don't need to tell you." "Fine. But let me ask you this: how are you associated with the other drifters? Do you also hold a medium? What do you have to with the guardians?" Now I seriously thought this guy was fruity and a whacko. "What the hell are you talking about? I don't anything about mediums, and what in hell's a guardian?" I couldn't see his face too much, but I know he was looking at me wide-eyed. He left quickly, and slammed the door. "Geez, what's up his ass?"

I was once again left in the dark, and I was getting pissed with everyone intruding on me, even if it was only two people. I was happy to at least be against a wall, I could at least lean my head back. I looked around my surroundings, thinking maybe I could try to find out where the hell we were. I knew this was room was much bigger than I had thought, and there were things near the ceiling. I could feel them. I once again leaned on the wall, feeling scared and lonely. I had closed my eyes, and thought, _I wish Jet was here…_I immediately opened my eyes, surprised at what I thought. I didn't try to fight myself, I just submitted to the fact that maybe I really did want him to be there, that maybe I did still have some feelings for him. Ever since I met him, I felt like somehow, I had known him for a while. And after we kissed, I felt like maybe he didn't feel the way I did about him, and as a pitiful effort to try and forget, I told him to forget about it. I guess it had worked, he seemed to be his old self, and in thinking that, I became melancholy.

I swore, a vein somewhere in my head was going to explode as someone stormed in on me again. But whoever it was had dragged me out of the room, and I knew he had just raised my chances of me escaping. He threw me on the floor, and that pissed me off. And what made this experience even better? I was surrounded by Melody, the fruit, the man who threw me on the floor, and Janus Cascade. I looked around, wondering what was going on. The only guy I didn't know spoke, "This is useless! We have no use for her! She doesn't have any knowledge of the guardians or mediums, or anything we need! That's two failures Melody! Losing that valuable power source was enough, and now we have a failed and completely useless kidnapping!" I was hurt by this. "Hey, I'm not useless!" The man looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "You look familiar…" My anger was turned into confusion, and I returned his raised eyebrow look. And at that time, I looked at that man, and I knew I had seen him before, but I didn't say anything. "Dude, you guys are frickin nuts. And I have never seen you before." They all just stood there, so I looked at the floor, feeling my cheeks go red. I had noticed while looking at the floor, it was stone. I looked at the walls of where I was at, and I had been held in a temple. No other temple but the temple Doomed to Obscurity. I knew where I was at, and now all I need was to get out of the ropes that bound my feet and hands. I tried to search for anything to break or cut them, but to no avail. I thought I was doomed for sure, until I heard the people surrounding me gasp. Seems they had heard somebody intruding in on them. Then I heard something I thought I would never be so happy to hear: Gallows' loud obnoxious laugh. I yelled at the top of my lungs, "GALLOWS!!!" He stopped laughing, and had obviously heard me. Melody looked at the guy with a scarf around his head and said, "They're here!? How did they find us?" then she looked down at me menacingly and spoke again, "You…" Then she stopped and looked at a hallway, and I was glad to see Virginia, Jet, that big oaf Gallows, and Clive. The blonde guy looked at the other man and said, "We do not have enough panakeia fluid in our bodies to sustain a fight. We need to leave Leehalt." So here I am thinking, okay, Leehalt, Melody, Janus… "I know Malik, let us leave" Then once again, I watched them disappear, this time, in a flash instead of a cloud of smoke. I was relieved to see that they had come. Jet walked up to me, pulled out a small pocket knife and freed me from those itchy ropes. I smiled at him, happy to se he blushed in return, then ran and grabbed my stuff which had been sitting in the corner of the room. I turned and asked, "How did you guys find me?" "We didn't" Clive said. "We had an idea of where you were, but we were too weak. We needed another Migrant Coin, and Jet said we could find one here." "Well that doesn't matter now," intruded Virginia, "We found you Avalon. We were really worried about you, some of us more than others…" I saw Jet turn his head. I was happy to be with these morons. They were a bit naive, but they made good friends.

Okay, done! I know that was kind of short, and what do you think? Tell me if you all think I should do more of that every once in a while, and gimme any suggestions you might have. Well, see ya!


	6. Something Old and Something New

After maybe like, two years…I have returned! I deeply apologize to those of you I promised new chapters to, I kind of lost confidence for two years…yeah I know it seems stupid, but here I am, and here's my fic!

I'm actually thinking of leaving my fics in first-person, it seems a little better…well maybe I'll alternate between views, but for now this one's in Avalon's.

So my last fanfic from a couple of years ago left us with Avalon being rescued from the clutches of the Prophets and Janus, and they're back at Baskar, empty-handed.

I was so disappointed in myself. I know I usually hate traveling with other people, but I can't help but stay with them, even when I feel like such an idiot when I drag them all into danger…well today marks the beginning of a smarter me. And no other day better than my birthday to begin.

These were my morning thoughts. I was pretty sick of myself at the time, I was mad because we left with absolutely from the temple, even if that wasn't my fault. But I was pretty sure Jet was getting really sick of me. So I thought to myself, let's pretend this whole entire thing, never ever ever happened. It was the best I could do.

I was still in the room Gallows' grandma gave me shelter in, looking at myself in a remnant of what probably used to be a big mirror. I did something I thought I wouldn't do for a long time, I pulled out a knife from my boot, held my hair in my palm, and I cut it. Of course I didn't cut it short! I still wanted to retain some feminism, even if I was a drifter, so I cut it shoulder length, and I sort of trimmed my bangs and washed the read out. I had shoulder length brown hair and side swept bangs. It made me feel a little bit more mature and to me that helped a lot.

I headed out into the village to get some fresh air before talking to everyone, but Mr. Megaphone Gallows robbed me of my morning contemplation.

"Hey Avalon I was just coming to check -" he stopped.

"check….?" I asked feverishly so as to stray from my new look.

"Wow! Your hair looks great! Why'd you cut it?"

"Um, no reason, it just kind of got in my way sometimes…so you came to check what now?"

"Oh yeah, I wanted to make sure you weren't traumatized or something. We're gonna have breakfast and a quick briefing on what to do next. So kiddo, I guess you're alright, right?"

"You got it. Let's go then." I said.

"Alrighty!"

As I walked with Gallows to Halle's house, I was really regretting telling Gallows that I was alright. I dreaded seeing everyone more with every step I took, they'd probably totally stray from the conversation just to ask me about my stupid hair, and maybe they'd find about my birthday, which was probably the worst thing, as if I needed anymore attention…

Gallows and I headed into the room, and as I expected…well maybe not entirely expected, Virginia got a little loud but that was really it. I thanked God I traveled with mostly men.

I sat down next to Virginia, as usual we sat around the fire in Halle's house. Halle was with us too, but then she stood up and waited for us to shut up and look at her. First she closed her eyes as she looked down, slowly motioning her face in a stern, troubled look.

"So you returned without the valuable power source…I fear the Prophets will use it for some great evil…I can't even fathom what could happen next…"

Gallows shot up and interrupted, "Granny! You mean we're stuck!? What's the point of coming here if you didn't even know what do to!?"

Halle shot Gallows that I'm sure took a few years off his life. I respect Halle so much, I hope that one day I can shoot people that make them want to piss their pants.

"Well Gallows, do you where you're going to go?"

Gallows stood there dumbfounded, as usual.

"Well, uh…no…"

"Then shut up and listen to your elders, for once!" Halle yelled. "You should go around Filgaia to see if there's anyone who can get you any kind of leads on the Prophets, Janus or any ancient artifacts. I will gladly give you refuge here whenever you need it."

Virginia stood up and thanked Halle, then we set out to find leads, first stop, Jolly Roger.

We skipped out on the whole sandcraft deal and just took horses. It was pretty nice, well, it was better than riding in that metal hell hole. I rode with Virginia since they only had five horses, but I didn't complain I was just glad to be back. I was thinking about my whole kidnapping ordeal, and as I looked up, I saw Jet. I remembered how Virginia said "We found you Avalon. We were really worried about you, some of us more than others…" That made me smile. I guess even after all that happened between us, Jet sort of liked me enough to care that I was in danger. I sighed to myself, then I gasped and almost fell off the damn horse when Virginia suddenly pulled over.

"What the hell was that!?" I said.

Virginia looked over an enormous field of flowers on a hilltop, separated from us by a giant crevasse.

Jet gave her an angry look and yelled, "C'mon Virginia, we don't have time to be sidetracked!"

She puffed her cheeks and responded, "I don't need _you_ to tell me that! I was just thinking…"

Jet yelled again, "Forget it! We can check out that hill after we get some dirt on the prophets!"

She rolled her eyes and reluctantly answered with a sigh, "Ugh fine! Geez, I thought I was the leader…"

We arrived at Jolly Roger, the old port town. We split up to ask everyone if they knew anything, but I couldn't help but be distracted. I saw a cat over by the docks, so I decided to play with it. I heard Virginia squeal, and she scared the stupid cat away. I looked over to see what the hell she was yelling about now, and I saw that Alfred kid along with his sister and their little gang. I walked over and our proud loudmouthed leader announced to us,

"Great news everyone! Maya and her team have agreed to travel with us as we look for clues! Next stop, sandcraft!"

-End.

Alright, I know this one was pretty boring, but I'm still getting back into this. I promise the next one will be better and more humorous :D

Until next time, R&&R please :


	7. Oh No, Lions, Tigers and Bears, Too?

-1Alrighty everyone, thanks for the great reviews!!!

A little hinty hint hint for you guys, OMG AVALON, LIKE, HAS A PAST!?

Post-Script, this is now in third person view. XD

As soon as Virginia and Maya finished chattering for a while, both teams boarded the sand craft.

Unfortunately, there wasn't exactly enough room for all of them to get comfortable…in some cases people get angry, others go crazy, and sometimes tension seems to rise…

The muffled voice of Jet cried out, "Why are we taking the sand craft? Couldn't we just take the train like normal people?"

"I guess, but how boring would that be! Besides, maybe there's places we've overlooked, and it wouldn't hurt to find them!" Virginia responded.

_The only reason she's not complaining is because she has a seat all to herself as the captain of this hunk of junk, _thought Avalon.

As cramped as they all were, some party members tried to make the best of it by having conversation. At the back of the craft, sat Avalon. She heard Clive and Maya's bodyguard Todd talking about weapons, Gallows' snoring, and Maya and Virginia arguing about something. She eventually dozed off.

At the front in the Harpooner's station, was Jet, alone for a little while until Alfred came.

"So, what's happening right now with your team?" he timidly asked.

"Well, we were looking for a power source of some sort, until Avalon got herself captured and we lost it. So now we have to travel around Filgaia in search of any leads. That's it." Jet said quickly, trying to hint that he didn't want to talk anymore.

"Really? Were you worried when she was captured?"

"Worried? Angry, maybe! It's her fault we lost what we were looking for!"

"You weren't worried even a little bit?" persisted Alfred. Then Jet became annoyed.

"No, already! Why would I worry about her, she can take care of herself."

"I was just asking…she always seems worried whenever something happens to you…"

Jet's angry visage softened. _She was…worried about me…?_

Against his emotions, Jet said, "That doesn't mean I have to worry about her. She may be part of my team, but she's not my friend or anything. Don't get any ideas that I like her or anything."

"Oh, that makes things easier then." said Alfred.

Jet turned and looked at Alfred dumbfounded. "What do you mean?"

Alfred slightly tilted his head and answered, "Well I kind of like her, but I thought you two liked each other. But if you don't like her, I want to talk to her more."

Jet returned to his usual sulky face, except it was red. "I wouldn't. She's kind of clingy, and ditzy at times."

"Hmmm, well I think she's nice." said Alfred, and then left.

Jet wasn't too happy anymore. _What an idiot! He was just waiting for me to say something to use as an excuse to talk to her…well it's not like she'll like him anyway, he's too much of a pansy for her…at least I think so…nah, I know A.V. she wouldn't go for him…_

After finishing his conversation with Jet, Alfred walked to the back of the ship to Avalon. He called her, and she awoke startled.

"I'm sorry! I didn't know you were asleep; I wouldn't have--"

"It's alright," said Avalon groggily. She covered her mouth with one hand as she let out a big yawn, and stretched the other. "What's going on?"

"Oh nothing, I just wanted to talk since it seems we're not really going anywhere." Alfred said.

"Oh, alright."

"So…can I ask you something?" he inquired.

"Shoot."

"Do you have any feelings for Jet?"

Avalon's throat tightened , and she felt as if someone had just asked her to dry-swallow a torpedo. She was searching her mind for something to say, and always thought no one would ever ask this question until a very long time from now.

She had to be really vague in order for Alfred not to assume anything, so she said, "Well uh…I have feelings for everyone! They're my team after all. And since Jet is part of my team, then I guess I have feelings for him too."

"Wow, you are nice." said Alfred.

"Huh?" Avalon wasn't exactly sure where he was going.

"Well, Jet said that just because you two were in the same team didn't make you friends, and that you were clingy and ditzy. But I told him you were really nice, and I'm right."

"Wait," Avalon said with a tone of anger in her voice, "Jet said that?"

"Yeah." said Alfred cheerily, unaware of Avalon's looming angry aura.

"Well then I guess I don't--" she started, but she was cut off by the sound of an alarm and the sand craft was bouncing about uncontrollably.

"What's going on!?" Maya yelled.

Virginia was scouring the panel in front of her with a worried face. "It seems there's a sea of rocks here…and there's a…oh no!"

"What? What? What!?" asked a frightened Maya.

"Sandstorm!" cried Virginia.

The whole craft gasped as the view from the front window was obscured with waves of sand, and rocks at the bottom of the ship were tossing it back and forth.

"Please say there's something we can do." cried Todd, "Milady is fragile despite her appearance, she can't handle this!"

"Silence Todd! I'm fine!" she said in her defense, clinging to him.

Between the intervals of sand attacks that hit the front of the sand craft, Avalon stumbled to the front and saw beyond the craggily rocks. Her eyes widened, and she could hear her heart humming in her ears.

"TURN BACK, TURN BACK, VIRGINIA!" she screamed, "TURN BACK!"

"What? We can make this, we can do it, there should be an island beyond the-"

"No, please, I'm begging you, turn back! The sand craft will be destroyed if we continue!"

Avalon's cries of dismay were to no avail, and it was just as she predicted. The sand craft began to shake even though they had miraculously made it past the attack of Filgaia's forces, and the alarm continued to sound.

"There's the island! We should be okay!" Virginia added trying to bring some light into their predicament.

She put the craft in full throttle and pushed it to the shore of the island.

"Virginia, don't!" interjected Clive, "The sand craft can't handle full throttle after what it just went through!"

Even Gallows agreed, "Kid, you're gonna kill us; Virginia don't be crazy!"

"Listen to your team!" threatened Maya, "If we die, I'll kill you!!!"

"We're losing our power!" yelled Clive as he frantically watched his monitor.

"We…can….do….this…!!!"

A few feet away from the shore, the sand craft exploded dead on the spot. The teams flew through the air and landed roughly on the shore.

Virginia stumbled quickly to her feet, and yelled, "Is everyone okay!?"

She looked around and saw that everyone was alright, but ran to Maya as she lay motionless on the earth.

"Oh no…"gasped Virginia.

She raised her hands to her mouth and fell to the floor. "Oh no…!"

Todd walked over to her and said, "I'm so sorry, milady tends to faint easily in situations like these. Don't mind her."

He lifted Maya on to his back and asked, "Shall we proceed?"

Virginia got up and dusted herself, embarrassed.

Avalon was still on the floor. She groaned and put her arm to her head. She slowly dragged her legs up, and sat down. Jet ran up to her, kneeled down and asked, "Are you alright?"

She pulled herself up, ignored him and walked towards Virginia.

_What the hell? _Jet thought to himself, _I thought…Alfred said she worries about me, why didn't she worry about me…and when I'm worrying about her, why is she ignoring me!?_

Clive was standing next to Virginia, and everyone was gathered around them. He did a quick head count, and declared, "Everyone's here and accounted for, and it looks like by some miracle, we're all okay."

Even thought Avalon was alright, she released her anger on Virginia anyway. "What were you thinking!? Are you crazy!? We told you to turn around, we could have all been killed because of you! And now we're stranded on this island; we don't even know if there's food or civilization here! Alright _leader _do you want to _lead _us into another death trap!?"

"I-"Virginia started, "I'm really sorry everyone…"

"Well I don't think sorry's going to pull us out of this mess…"continued Avalon.

"Look," Gallows interrupted, "we can all agree on what Virginia did was stupid. But right now, we have to look for food, or something!"

"I hope we can take on the monsters…" said Alfred.

"Oh, good Lord!" yelled Jet, "What's going to happen to us now!!!"

In the midst of all the screaming, the sound of shots fired at them.

"oh no…" Avalon whispered.

-The End.

Muahahaha! Don't worry the next one's coming up sooner than you think :

Don't forget the reviews!


	8. And We All Return To Our Roots

-1yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawn…alrighty kiddos, I feel a little out of whack, but I hope this'll be a good one! A little heads up for you, some new people maybe, and…stuff…and maybe even a cow! If I don't write about Avalon's past, it'll be in the next one I promise D:

BULLETS!? SAY WHAT!?

"Oh, what's happening now!?" Maya yelled in the midst of the gun shots.

"Trouble seems to follow us just about everywhere, doesn't it?" commented Jet.

The two teams scrambled together and looked around in all directions, hoping by some force there was something that was going to appear and get them out of their sticky situation. Then, to his and everyone else's surprise, Gallows had an idea.

"I've got it! Everyone, get close to me!" Gallows proclaimed.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures!" cried Maya, and she too jumped behind Gallows.

Gallows extended one arm to the sky, and used his other one to support it, and using his mediums raised a barrier that removed Maya and Virginia's teams out of the line of fire. They all held on to each other until they heard that the rain of bullets had subsided, and as soon as they heard silence, Avalon ran from the group, and towards the direction where they were being attacked.

The group watched her dumbfounded, and Todd called to her, "Miss, please come back! You don't know what's out there, you could be killed!"

Ignoring Tom and the others' warnings, she continued to run, determined to reach her unknown destination. Not caring what was happening, Jet broke away from the big group as well, and ran after Avalon, angry.

_Dammit! What the hell's the matter with this girl!? She's always getting us into trouble or trying to get herself killed! Then she goes off and ignores my help! I'm a moron for running after her, I don't know what I'm doing…! _Jet thought to himself.

A gust of wind and sand had obscured his view, and after not even running that far, he collided into Avalon accidentally, and they both let out an "Ugh!" She was pretty much just standing there.

Avalon swung herself around with surprise on her face, and then quickly changed it to a scornful look, as if Jet had disturbed some deep concentration of hers. Jet returned her look with his usual scowl, then yelled, "Dammit, what the hell are you doing!?"

Well…Avalon ignored him. Duh!

Jet clenched his fists in anger, and yelled again, "What's your problem? Why are you ignoring me and trying to get yourself killed? I'm offering you help, and instead you act like I'm getting in the way!"

Avalon swung herself around again, except this time it was violent, and she yelled too, "How come _you _can act like I'm getting in your way, but you can't handle it when I say you get in _my _way!? And you know what, whenever I help you out, you don't even tell me thank you, you push me aside and act like me helping you was a bad thing, and that's even worse than being ignored!"

She turned around and went back staring to her invisible subject in the distance. Jet was taken aback, and for once…sorta felt, bad! He dropped his vision towards the ground in front of him, and said, "It's just that…I'm not used to being helped so much."

Avalon resumed her position, unmoved by the speck of "I'm so totally sorry" in Jet's tone. She replied, "Well you won't have to get used to it. I'll just stop helping you."

_I guess this is what I deserve…I can't believe she actually cared about me…_

_I want to help him, I do! But he's too used to "not being helped"…Dammit, whatever. If it's easy for him not to care about me…or…everyone, it won't be that hard for me to not care about him._

After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, Avalon began to move forward again. Jet followed her, uncertain of what to do otherwise. As they walked, Avalon pulled a small explosive from the pouch on her belt, examined it for a while, then with a swift movement, threw it forward as hard as she could. Jet moved back, and broke their unannounced promise of silence as he said flustered, "What are you doing?"

She ignored him still, concentrating now more than ever on her invisible target. It exploded duh again!, and the sound of syncopated footsteps was growing steady towards them. Jet stepped back again, but Avalon remained a stone sentry. His eyes darted into the distance, then back at Avalon; his feet slowly retreated, he was reluctant to leave Avalon alone. He shrugged, ignored the sounds, and moved next to Avalon. He wasn't going to leave her alone, and if she tried to push the whole "don't help me!" line on him, he'd pass it off as an act of curiosity.

Shortly after Jet's internal "fight or flight" battle, a group of unknown drifters appeared from behind the wind and the dust. He squinted to see their faces, but he only caught the dust. It happened that some sort of objects-in-mirror-are-closer-than-they-appear moment had occurred, as they were practically in front of Avalon and Jet's faces in no less than twenty seconds.

Surprisingly, it was only four men, but no one would've guessed from the salvos of bullets they fired. One of them stepped forward; Avalon looked like a little girl next to the guy. He looked down on her, both of them scowling at each other, until he bent over a little, his face still higher than Avalon's, and said with a rather not-scary voice, "Hey little lady, don't you know your kind aren't allowed around here?"

Avalon raised an eyebrow and smirked at the man, and said, "Really? I thought everyone actually wanted me here…"

The drifter straightened up and laughed, then said, "Well, you're definitely right. As usual."

"Damn straight." commented Avalon.

He looked at Jet, then blankly stared at Avalon and asked, "Wasn't there some more people with you? By the way, who's this?"

"Yeah, they're by the shore. You almost killed us, you know. Oh, this is Jet." she slightly turned to Jet and said, "This is Dion. He's an old friend of mine."

Dion extended his hand to Jet with a smile. Jet took his hand, and Dion said, "Nice to meet you, any friend of Avalon's is a friend of ours!"

Jet shook his hand and thought to himself, _I wonder if she even considers me a friend right now…_

Dion retreated his hand, and very heartily said, "Enough of these formalities, let's go make sure your friends haven't died of suspense over there."

Avalon nodded in agreement, and then she, Jet, and Dion's team headed to the shore.

It was as almost they hadn't even left. They were still clustered together around Gallows unmoving, as if waiting all this time for Avalon and Jet's return. Avalon stepped up to the group and, a little unsure of what to say, told them, "Umm…it's ok?"

Maya separated herself from the group now with an, "Ok!? We were waiting here like fools, terrified of even moving and wondering if you two were killed, how can--"

Dion stepped forward and interrupted her ranting, "Whoa, calm down miss, you're ok now right? Why don't we take you all somewhere you can rest and relax, ok?"

Maya looked up at him with open eyes, blushing, and simply nodded her head slowly, all the while in her head screaming _TAKE ME, TAKE ME, PLEASE!!!_

The two teams formed back respectively into two groups, making light conversation now that they were pretty sure they weren't getting killed. Jet merged back with his team, Avalon followed behind Dion and his, and tagging along next to her was Alfred, asking, "What happened? Are you ok?"

_Damn, that kid is annoying. If he really cared that Avalon was in trouble he would've ran after her or tried to help her out…_

After about twenty minutes, all teams arrived at a not-so-small town, with a lot of people. Dion who was at the front of the big heard, turned around and exclaimed, "Welcome to the town of Ciel! Before we get movin', I must let you know, we're not accustomed to other drifters, so if they treat you differently, don't hold it against them. It's a little close-minded around here…"

He turned to Avalon and whispered something inaudible to her, and she nodded her head. They continued into the town, and almost everyone had their jaws dropped at how this town was in such great shape. It had a lot of people for a town no one there had even heard of, kids and teenagers and adults, all pretty fancy looking. The town itself was all clean, and the houses were well-kept and pretty big. There was a big fountain in the middle, but it wasn't running, which made sense seeing as there's not much water in Filgaia. Clive especially noticed this, _Why would they build a fountain if they didn't intend to use it…?_

Maya was in awe in a town that screamed MONEY at everyone, so she announced that she and her team would be getting to know the town better, and left Virginia and her team to follow Dion's. Virginia was starting to wonder where they were going, and Dion informed her that he was taking them to see the head honcho of the place. They passed a block of homes, then arrived at a really big one. Gallows gasped in disbelief, "Good God! Is _that _the house!?" Dion nodded with a smile, and at this, Avalon slowly moved herself to the back of Virginia's team with her head down. Dion walked to the door, grasped the rather expensive-looking door knocker and slammed it a couple times. A small woman, obviously a maid, opened the large door with a high pitched, "Yes? Oh, hello Dion. They're upstairs in the white room. I'll let them know you're here. Go on ahead."

Dion's team stayed behind, and he motioned to Virginia that it was alright for them to come in. The followed him, all of them except Avalon looking at the beautiful house. Nice stone floors, bright, high quality furniture, and pictures littered the home. They followed their guide up a flight of stairs that were so clean and shiny, they felt guilty touching the rail with their hands. Almost immediately after entering the second floor, there was an enormous living room to their right, with white carpet, white sofas, chairs, and white drapes over two enormous French doors. It was cool and spacious, Virginia couldn't hold in the "Wow" that escaped her lips. This tiny outburst of hers alerted the woman and man in the room looking out the open doors into their town.

"It's okay," Dion informed Virginia, then turned to the man and woman and said in an official voice different than his own, "Excuse me sir, I've brought some friends who have been shipwrecked and need some hospitality for a little while. Would it be alright for them to stay here? They won't be here too long."

The woman inquired, "Why won't they being staying for so long?"

Dion answered with a slight reluctance, "They're…drifters."

"I see…"the woman said, "Well I think it would be fine if they stayed for a while, don't you think Colin?" she asked her husband.

"Of course. Can we meet them?" he inquired.

"Yes, they're right here."

Virginia entered in first, excited to meet them, and her team followed her into the expensive room. The woman motioned to the sofa across from them with a smile, and Virginia fixed herself carefully into their sofa, it felt like an exhibit at a museum you weren't allowed to touch. Clive sat down a little more casually, Gallows having no social graces, jumped on it, and Jet and Avalon both sat down like it was an ordinary couch.

"Thank you so much for letting us stay here!" Virginia said a little nervously.

"Oh it's not problem, we have tons of room." returned the woman. "So, what are your names and where are you coming from?"

"I'm Virginia, I'm our leader."

"I'm Clive, an archaeologist."

"Nice to meet you sir and ma'am, I'm Gallows, a priest from Baskar."

"Jet."

Avalon, without lifting her head from it's downward position took a while to answer. Virginia looked at her questioningly, and said, "Av--?"

"It's A.V." she bluntly said.

Pretending to blow the whole thing off, Virginia began to speak, "We were on our way around Filgaia to look for leads on treasure, until we hit that field of rocks around your island."

"Yes, we are almost completely secluded from the rest of Filgaia except for some trades that we make." informed the woman.

"I see," said Clive, "Are you two the only ones who live in this enormous house? Do you have any children?"

The woman sort of drooped her head too, and her dark brown waves fell off of her shoulder. Colin looked at his wife a little concerned and answered, "Taryn doesn't like to talk about it, but," he paused, "we used to."

"Used to?" inquired Clive. Virginia added an another question, "Did something happen?"

The woman sighed and began, "Well, we used to have a girl…"

The End :

In your faces suckers!

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